Word: meccas
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Each year Saudi Arabian border guards monitor transports carrying Muslim pilgrims back from Mecca. The purpose is to discourage any of the 2 million or so visitors from staying on illegally; a fine of 1,604 riyal (about $430) is levied for each person recorded as entering the country who does not appear on a checklist of those leaving. This year companies bearing the Turkish faithful home have so far been forced to pay some 200,000 riyal ($54,000) for no-shows. The trouble is, almost all of them were probably among the 1,426 killed in the July...
...Muslim pilgrims, a high point of the hajj to Mecca is the trek to Jamarat al 'Akaba in Mina, one of the three stoning points of Satan. Each passing pilgrim must cast pebbles at this rock pillar in a ritual that symbolizes the faithful's struggle against evil. At 10 a.m. last Monday the believers suddenly faced a more earthly trial...
...Gorbachev can't seem to please anyone. -- Despite economic union, flinty East Germans hold on to their marks. -- Pilgrims perish in a Mecca tragedy...
Pinocchio's has long been considered a mecca for Harvard Square soccer fans, and support for the Italian national team runs high in the pizza parlor...
...Donald Trump fights to save his Atlantic City casino empire, he might cast an envious eye at booming Las Vegas. The desert Mecca of hype and high rollers is on a winning streak. Las Vegas casino revenues surged nearly 12% last year, to $3.2 billion, at a time when the take at Atlantic City grew just 2.6%, to $2.8 billion. The hot hand encouraged Las Vegas hoteliers to add 10,000 new rooms in the past year alone, a 16% increase. Last week more than 50,000 gamblers and gawkers flocked to the opening of the world's largest hostelry...